FARMINGTON, Maine - The University of Maine at Farmington softball team earned a pair of North Atlantic Conference victories on Saturday afternoon, topping SUNY Delhi in its home-opening doubleheader at Prescott Field. The Beavers earned the game one win, 9-0 in six innings, before taking game two, 8-2.
Game One; Farmington 9 - SUNY Delhi 0
A game that opened as a pitcher's duel, with both teams held scoreless through three complete innings, quickly became a blowout as the Farmington offense got rolling in the bottom half of the fourth inning.
Jessica Dow (Saco, Maine) led off the inning by reaching base on an error that put her on second. After Maddie Pike (Kennebunk, Maine) was hit by a pitch, Lisa Truchin (Torrance, Calif.) stroked a single to left field, bringing home Dow to score the first run of the game. Two batters later, senior catcher Bella Miller (Lewiston, Maine) ripped a triple over the head of the right fielder to chase home Pike and Truchin. Miller came in to score as Ava Paglianite (Upper Black Eddy, Pa.) followed with an RBI single of her own to make it 4-0.
Dow led off the bottom half of the fifth with a rocket over the head of the center fielder for a triple. She scored on an RBI groundout from Pike to make it 5-0. Later in the inning, junior infielder Reilly Russell (Windham, Maine) singled down the left field line with two outs to keep the inning alive. She moved to second on an error and was then chased home by a single from Angelina Ventullo (Salem, N.H.).
Farmington wasted no time completing the run-rule victory in the bottom of the sixth. Back-to-back singles from Emily Collins (Moscow, Maine) and Melissa Mayo (Bridgton, Maine) put two on with Dow coming to the plate. Dow blasted a home run to dead center to clinch the 9-0 victory.
In the circle, Farmington got a dominant performance from junior Emma DeBoer (Saint Leonard, Md.), who threw all six innings, giving up just four hits and two walks while striking out four in the shutout. For the Broncos, Mikayla Wright took the loss, going 3 2/3 innings and giving up four runs—all unearned—on two hits and four walks.
Stat Leaders - Farmington
Jessica Dow; 2-for-4, HR, 3B, 3 RBI, 3 runs
Bella Miller; 2-for-2, 3B, 2 RBI, 1 run, BB
Ava Paglianite; 1-for-2, RBI, BB
Lisa Truchin; 1-for-3, RBI, 1 run
Angelina Ventullo; 1-for-3, RBI
Stat Leaders - SUNY Delhi
Grace Sperry; 2-for-3
Carly Bernard; 1-for-3
Samantha Martin; 1-for-2
Game Two; Farmington 8 - SUNY Delhi 2
After being held scoreless in game one, the Broncos' offense came to life in the top of the first inning in game two. Samantha Martin led off the game with a walk, and two batters later, Stephanie Huckabee singled to put runners at first and second with one out. After Farmington starting pitcher Natalie Simpson (Bucksport, Maine) recorded a strikeout for the second out of the inning, Grace Sperry ripped a double to left to bring home Martin and Huckabee and put Delhi up 2-0 early.
The game stayed 2-0 into the third inning until Farmington's offense broke it open by putting five runs on the board on the strength of a pair of two-run home runs. The first came off the bat of Dow, who belted her second home run of the day—nearly a mirror image of the first—to straightaway center, bringing in Collins, who had doubled in the previous at-bat. Pike followed with a single, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and then scored on an RBI single from Ventullo to give the Beavers a 3-2 lead.
The next batter was Truchin, who blasted a home run over the wall in left field to make it a 5-2 game. The home run was the first of her collegiate career.
The Beavers tacked on single runs in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings to make it an 8-2 ballgame. Collins hit sacrifice flies in the fourth and sixth, and Pike doubled and scored on an error in the fifth to put the game away.
After giving up two runs in the first, Simpson settled in, allowing just two hits—singles in the third and seventh—before finishing with a complete game to earn her third win of the season. She gave up four hits and walked just one while striking out seven.
Angelina Dickel took the loss in the circle for the Broncos, giving up five earned runs on eight hits in 2 1/3 innings of work.
Stat Leaders - Farmington
Jessica Dow; 2-for-4, HR, 2 RBIs, 1 run
Maddie Pike; 2-for-3, 2B, 2 runs
Angelina Ventullo; 2-for-3, RBI, 1 run
Lisa Truchin; 1-for-3, HR, 2 RBIs, 1 run
Stat Leaders - SUNY Delhi
Grace Sperry; 1-for-2, 2B, 2 RBI, HBP
Samantha Martin; 1-for-2, 1 run, BB
Stephanie Huckabee; 1-for-3, 1 run
UP NEXT
The Beavers will play host to SUNY Cobleskill on Sunday in another NAC doubleheader. Game one is set to begin at 11:00 AM.
